Ahhh – the CV is dead subject raises it’s head!
Amongst the network of us `futuristic` recruiters (inhouse and agency), this is a hot topic. At the recent #truLondon event – it was debated heavily. The result of the discussion? No, they are not dead – roughly by a margin of 57 to 3 in the room.

The reason is because 99% of employers still want to see a CV. I take Dirk’s point, but the LinkedIn profile is dour, standardised and often incomplete. It doesn’t encourage `CV type` achievement content – it encourages mere task lists under jobs.

Where the 2 combine, is that there is actually nothing wrong with CVs, if the jobseeker has displayed the links Dirk refers to. CVs CAN be dynamic pieces of presentation – in the social age, they need to be catalysts for information, social footprint, proof, evidence of work, and downright boasting of visual online brilliance. It is also a demonstration of how the jobseekers likes to present information, how they write, and how they prioritize and emphasise relevant content. (On that note, I consider infographic CVs as mindless nonsense)

The black and white one-dimensional CV should be close to dead to those of us operating in the creative industries – but an optimized, multi-dimensional platform for links to their online existence certainly is not.

Let’s please not kill the CV at least as a starting point to someones evidence of work. As I do as part of my role – let’s educate people to do them better.

Perhaps it’s the static CV that needs to die then? A ‘platform’ for a person doesn’t need to be a CV. Yet the very vast majorit of CVs I receive ARE static, formulaic, fairly meaningless standard fare. I point this out not to grumble, but to encourage applicants to think about what they’re trying to communciate and how they’re trying to do it.

Steve Earl

All makes perfect sense. I’d like to see more of candidates conducting (though it’s risky from their perspective) ‘hire me’ social campaigns rather than just slapping on a CV that they’re familiar with “tools like” Facebook. The latter doesn’t cut it any way.

I will miss the clumsy CV boasts though, they always brighten the day. The “I am a strategic thinker, I act strategically and immerse myself persistently in the heady waters of strategy” kind of guff.